Arsenal clashed heads with Watford at Vicarage Road earlier tonight hoping to get a win on the road in the Premier League. The Gunners began the match on the offensive and scored in the 10th minute courtesy of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goal. The Hornets suffered a major blow just a minute after the opening goal when Troy Deeney was sent off for a raised elbow on Lucas Torreira. The visitors dominated possession against the 10-men of Watford but couldn’t add to their goal tally in the first half.
Both teams fought tooth and nail in the second half, but Unai Emery’s men managed to hang on to their narrow advantage and grinded out a 1-0 victory on the night.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player performed during the contest against the Hornets.
GK: Bernd Leno – 8/10
The German keeper made two important saves to deny the Hornets attackers from scoring. He kept a well-deserved clean sheet at Vicarage Road.
RB: Shkodran Mustafi – 6/10
He was deployed as a makeshift right-back, and for once, Mustafi did enough to restrict the Watford forwards from scoring a goal tonight.
CB: Konstantinos Mavropanos – 6/10
The Greek defender had his hands full while dealing with the pace of Andre Gray. Overall, it was a solid display from him.
CB: Laurent Koscielny – 7/10
The French centre-back used all his experience to lead the Arsenal defenders to a rare shut-out away from home.
LB: Nacho Monreal – 7/10
The Spanish full-back kept his calm under pressure and defended valiantly in his own half. It was a very matured display from the experienced campaigner.
CM: Lucas Torreira – 6/10
The Uruguayan suffered an elbow from Troy Deeney which saw the Hornets talisman get his marching orders. Torreira was later subbed at half-time despite an impressive first-half display.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 6.5/10
The Swiss midfielder kept things ticking in midfield and was careful when on possession of the ball.
RAM: Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 4.5/10
It was a frustrating outing from the Armenian international. He wasted some glorious opportunities to score which would have given Arsenal some breathing room in the game.
CAM: Aaron Ramsey – 5/10
The Welshman struggled to get anything going for him in the opposition half. He tried a few flicks and flashy passes but with no end product.
LAM: Alex Iwobi – 6/10
The Gunners winger was always willing to take on the Watford defenders and made some lung-bursting runs down the wide areas. However, he lacked composure in the final third and was guilty of squandering a few excellent chances.
ST: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 6/10
The Gabon international was fortunate to score in the 10th minute after Ben Foster’s howler. However, his teammates hardly gave him any service throughout the match, and in the end, he couldn’t add to his goal tally.
Substitutes:
CM: Mesut Ozil – 5/10
Emery’s plan to replace Torreira for him at half-time backfired as the German talent failed to get himself involved in the game.
CM: Matteo Guendouzi – 4/10
The French youngster was often out of position and brought some confusion to the Arsenal midfield.
